Use Up Your Leftover Mashed Potatoes With Mashed Potato Brownies

Marrying a potato farmers you can only imagine how many potatoes are eaten in our house. Which doesn’t break my heart because I love potatoes and shameless plug here but they are actually pretty healthy, it’s a matter of what we put on them that make them bad. Mashed potatoes are one of our favorite types of potatoes to eat in our house. The possibilities of what can be done with them is endless really.

Gravy.

Butter.

Salt & Pepper.

Ranch powder.

Bacon and cheese.

Garlic.

Should I continue or do I have you salivating for creamy, smooth and buttery potatoes? I have myself salivating for them and can not wait for the new potato crop to be finished. Hard to believe that we will be harvesting in 6 weeks! Thanks to Cory’s routine digs to check the size profile of the potatoes I have been well stocked in potatoes recently. The thing about new potatoes freshly dug from the field at this time is that the skins have not been set yet and that means that they tend to go soft quickly, which means lots of mashed potatoes in our house this time of year.

The one problem with mashed potatoes is that there is always mashed potatoes left over. Always. The question is what do you do with those leftover mashed potatoes? Make brownies of course! Make deliciously moist brownies!

Mashed potato brownies are a family favorite of my husbands family growing up and was a recipe that I was more than happy to raid my mother in laws recipes for. I think of the years missed out on these moist brownies, living in oblivion and it brings a little tear to my eye actually. Some people think applesauce I think mashed potatoes as a way to moisten my baked goods.

The key making mashed potato brownies is that you need to keep some out that are plain. While salt, butter and milk are ok additions but pepper can be an over-powering flavor and garlic even worse.

The Cast Of Mashed Potato Brownies

6 oz unsalted butter
3 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed potatoes, plain (meaning no pepper or garlic)
1 cup  flour
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions For Mashed Potato Brownies

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 inch pan with PAM.

2.  Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and mashed potatoes.

3.  Add  flour to the mashed potato mixture and mix well.  Add chocolate chips and walnuts or pecans if desired.

4.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

How do you like your mashed potatoes?  How do you use up your leftover mashed potatoes?  Have you ever used mashed potatoes in your baking, if not will you be giving mashed potato brownies a try?